This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/25/2023
MAILLARDET, Henri (1745 – 1830). Maillardet’s Magnificent Automatical Exhibition. London: T. Woofall Printer, [1798]. Letterpress broadside advertises the exhibition of the famed Swiss builder of automatons, “having been several times honored with the presence of Their Majesties,” and including automatons that play a miniature organ, present conjuring tricks, and dance on a rope a la Antonio Diavolo. The exhibition also features a singing bird box and what is likely Maillardet’s most famous creation, the writing automaton here billed as also “equally adept in the art of engraving.” 10 x 8 ½”, with foxing, thinned spots, chips and tears. Rare. Maillardet’s writer could not only draw pictures as if a living and breathing artist, but write verses in both English and French – seven different functions in all, giving the machine the largest “memory” of any automaton ever constructed. Its mechanism is concealed in the platform atop which the figure rests, allowing for the wider range of actions. After years of neglect, Maillardet’s automaton found a permanent home in the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. The remarkable machine served as the inspiration for the automaton central to the film Hugo (2011), directed by Martin Scorsese.